National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

　　This is a Guardian Dog (Koma-inu) with its mouth clamped shut (un gyō). Although it can be imagined that it may have belonged to one of the great shines due to its dignified presence, the detail of the origin is not known. The location of the other half of the pair dog with its mouth open (a gyō) is also unknown.
　　Although the origin of Guardian Dog is not certain, it is believed that there may be some connection to the pair of lions guarding the Buddha and bodhisattva statues in China or the Lion Head held as a treasure in Shōsō-in. Moreover, as Japanese religion based on the worship of nature gradually mixed with the idea of humanized divinities, furnishings as treasures for gods started to be brought into shine pavilions, which were the houses of the gods. As such, the Lion or the Guardian Dog shaped ornamental weights used for blinds made of bamboo sticks may have been found therein. Therefore, it is also considered that these ornamental weights became independent with time and started to be placed in pavilions or on porches, etc.
　　This statue is an old-style Guardian Dog that is facing front and sits on the ground and has a single horn on the top of its head. It has a powerful expression with its canines and upper teeth exposed and looks as if it may start growling at any time. Although the features such as orbits that sag downward and a mane that adheres to the body are from the Heian period (794–1185), other realistic features such as the thick and strong legs that stand firm on the grand with muscles and bones inside the skin standing out are similar to the style in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and it is considered that it was created in the early Kamakura period.